NEW YORK BANS MOST TRANS FATS IN RESTAURANTS

Published: December 6, 2006

The New York City Board of Health voted yesterday to adopt the nation's first major municipal ban on the use of all but tiny amounts of artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking, a move that would radically transform the way food is prepared in thousands of restaurants, from McDonald's to fashionable bistros to Chinese take-outs.

Some experts said the measure, which is widely opposed by the restaurant industry, would be a model for other cities. Chicago is considering a similar prohibition that would affect restaurants with more than $20 million in annual sales.

''New York City has set a national standard,'' said Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, who predicted that other communities would follow suit.

Trans fats are the chemically modified food ingredients that raise levels of a particularly unhealthy form of cholesterol and have been squarely linked to heart disease. Long used as a substitute for saturated fats in baked goods, fried foods, salad dressings, margarine and other foods, trans fats also have a longer shelf life than other alternatives.

While the trans fat regulation captured the most attention, the Board of Health approved a separate measure -- also the first of its kind in the country -- requiring some restaurants, mostly fast food outlets, to prominently display the caloric content of each menu item on menu boards or near cash registers.

Health officials said displaying calorie counts was meant to address what is widely regarded as a nationwide epidemic of obesity.

The city's prohibition on trans fats, which would be phased in starting in July, was a victory for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, an outspoken health advocate, and his activist health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden.

After the city's aggressive campaign to ban smoking in restaurants and in public places that goes back more than a decade, the regulation governing trans fats has again thrust New York to the forefront of a significant public health issue.

Experts say eliminating trans fats need not change the taste of foods, but chefs and restaurant owners say it is hard to replicate the taste and texture of some items without them.

Both the trans fat and calorie regulations would be enforced by the health department's restaurant inspectors. Inspectors would check the packaging of ingredients used in restaurant kitchens for the amount of trans fats they contain, but prepared food would not be routinely tested. Violators would face fines of at least $200.

Both measures have come under fire as impractical and unwanted intrusions by the government into free enterprise and civil liberties.

''This is a misguided attempt at social engineering by a group of physicians who don't understand the restaurant industry,'' said Dan Flesher, a National Restaurant Association spokesman. He said one or both measures could be challenged legally.

Mayor Bloomberg said the city is ''not going to take away anybody's ability to go out and have the kind of food they want, in the quantities they want.''

''We are just trying to make food safer,'' he added.

Still, some restaurant workers said the trans fat ban would represent a challenge.

''This will be better for people's health, but we'd like to know where to go from here,'' said O'Neil Whyte, a baker at Sweet Chef Southern Styles Bakery in Harlem. ''Things without trans fat are harder to get and more expensive.''

With artificial trans fat increasingly seen as a health risk, many city restaurants had begun seeking alternative ingredients long before the new regulations were proposed.

Most packaged food manufacturers began removing them on a large scale in 2004, in anticipation of federal rules that trans fat content be disclosed in nutritional labeling. The rule took effect in January.

Some restaurant chains are following suit. Wendy's has switched to a soy-corn blend cooking oil in its 6,300 restaurants in the United States and Canada, and KFC says it will eliminate trans fat in its food by April.

Chicago's proposal is under discussion. ''I'm disappointed we're losing bragging rights to be the first city in the nation to do this,'' said Edward Burke, a Chicago alderman who is pushing the ban.

New York's Board of Health, made up mostly of physicians and health professionals appointed by the mayor, can adopt regulations without approval by any other agency.

Still, the board granted concessions to the restaurant industry, which had complained vehemently that it was not being given enough time to experiment with new ingredients and recipes that would preserve or improve the taste of their food.

Restaurants will still have until next July 1 to eliminate oils, margarines and shortening from recipes that contain more than a half-gram of trans fat per serving. By July 1, 2008, they would have to remove all menu items that exceed the new limit, including bread, cakes, chips and salad dressings.

But under terms adopted yesterday, some foods will fall under the later deadline, including doughnuts, fritters, biscuits and deep fried items that the board said were particularly hard to prepare with a trans fat substitute.

''We want the taste, and the experience of food, to be the same or better,'' Dr. Frieden said.

The requirement for posting caloric content will take affect next July 1, and applies to restaurants that before March 1, 2007, already provided calorie counts on Web sites or in some other public format. Health officials said it would apply to about 10 percent of the city's restaurants, mainly large chains that have highly standardized menus and portions.

Restaurants can decide how to display the calorie counts as long as they are near the places where diners pay for their food, officials said. ''We want to allow creativity,'' said Dr. Lynn Silver, an assistant health commissioner. ''If someone has a better way of doing this, great.''